If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is
greater. For this is the witness of God which he has testified of his Son: He
that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself. He that believes not
God has made him a liar; because he believes not the record that God gave of his
Son. And this is the record, that God has given to us: Eternal life. And this
life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of
God has not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name
of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you
may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:9-13)

John here draws a contrast between what he calls,
"the witness of men," and "the witness of God." John does
not say that, "the witness of men" is invalid – if it is a true
witness. But he makes it clear that no witness of man can equal the,
"witness of God." The witness of God, says John, is greater.

What IS the, "witness of God?" John
answers: "For this is the witness of God which he has testified of
his Son: He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself."

According to the apostle John, "the witness of
God" is the life of Jesus Christ IN the one who believes. It is just that
simple. If you have Christ in you, THAT is the witness of God. In other words,
the witness of God to you is, "Christ in you." (see Col. 1:27)

A Witness

A "witness," of course, is someone who
represents the Truth about something – either in word or deed. You
"testify" to the Truth by virtue of your words and actions, and thus,
are a "witness" to that Truth. In this day and age, we tend to take
such things lightly. In the days of Jesus, when there were no books, or
recording equipment, the word of a man equaled his moral worth. In those days, a
false witness was therefore considered one of the worst kinds of people.

In the case of the apostles, they were witnesses to
the ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. If we listen
to them, we are hearing a "witness of man." Of course, later this was
a witness of God – in the sense of the inspiration of scripture. But according
to John, as wonderful as that is, there is more. There is still a greater
witness of God – one which is even greater than what we get from the apostles.
You see, the apostles were not called to start a religion based on THEIR
experience with Jesus. They came telling us that WE can have that same
experience. And that experience with Jesus IS OUR WITNESS.

Get that. Christianity is not a "religion"
which has, as it’s center, the teachings and experiences of the apostles. We
hold both of those things in high esteem. But Christianity is centered upon the
Person of Jesus Christ, and the personal witness and relationship with Him that
EACH of us can have is the center.

The greatest witness is one we get from GOD HIMSELF
– to us personally. That witness is Christ in us. Sure. Jesus is THE witness.
Thus, to each of us, He is OUR personal witness.

A Personal Revelation

The witness of God is from God. It is not from men.
Sure, it can come THROUGH man. But there is a witness of God which did not come
through any man. That witness was, and is, a Person, Jesus Christ.

These things saith the Amen, the
faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. (Rev 3:14)

And from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the
kings of the earth. (Rev 1:5)

The Spirit itself bears witness with
our spirit, that we are the children of God. (Rom 8:16)

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had
known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it
sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet
hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and
how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? (John 14:6-9)

Jesus Christ was God Incarnate, and as such, was THE
witness of God in human form. But the witness of God that He brought was
rejected. Why? Because it did not cater to the religion of those to whom He
came.

The tragic irony is that the "religion" of
those to whom Jesus came was Bible-based. The Jews had been given the OT and the
law of God. But IN THEIR HEARTS they had strayed so far away from God Himself,
that when God Himself stood in their midst, they called Him the Devil. Their
"religion" – which supposedly had God at the center -- had no place
for God!

The witness of Jesus Christ, when He walked upon this
earth as a flesh and blood human being is self-evident. But today, Jesus Christ
continues to be THE WITNESS OF GOD. How? He is a witness IN US. That’s what
the apostle John said. He said, "For this is the witness of God which he
has testified of his Son: He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in
himself."

We see this Truth expressed in Matthew 16. There,
Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do MEN say that I am?" (Matt. 16:13)
Notice that Jesus is asking them as to what was "The witness of men."
They gave a few answers, all of which were wrong. Then Jesus asked, "But
who do YOU say that I am?" (Matt. 16:15) Jesus wanted to know who THEY,
personally, knew Him to be. He wanted to know whether THEY had a revelation of
Him as the Christ.

Peter spoke for all of them. He said, "You are
the Christ, the Son of the Living God." (Matt. 16:16)

Jesus answered and said, "Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
" (Mat 16:17-18)

Jesus had just asked the disciples, "Who do MEN
say that I am?" In other words, "Who do OTHER PEOPLE say I am?"
But then He asked the disciples who THEY believed Jesus to be. Upon Peter’s
confession of the Truth, Jesus said, "Flesh and blood – in other words,
any other person – has not revealed this to you. My Father in heaven has shown
it to you."

Jesus was telling them that only God can reveal to
people Jesus Christ. This is the witness of God. God can use preaching,
ministry, and His Word. But unless God does the revealing, by the power of His
Spirit, there can be no revelation.

This is why Jesus also said, "No man can come to
Me except the Father who sent Me draw Him." (John 6:44) The
"drawing" is the revealing of Jesus to a person. This does NOT YET
mean that person has "come to Jesus" and been saved. Revelation alone
does not equal conversion. That person must embrace what God reveals by faith in
order to be saved. But none of that is possible unless the Father first draws a
person, or reveals to him the Christ.

Peter had confessed Jesus was the Christ only because
the Father had shown him this Truth. In other words, Peter now had more than
just "the witness of men." He personally had "the witness of
God."

How Are We Sure?

Of course the question arises, at this point, as to
how we can know that the supposed "witness" we have is of God. I mean,
lots of people say lots of things. They create their own reality out of the
imagination of their own heart, and say it is of God. How can we be sure that
they witness we say is of God – within us – really is of God? How do we know
that it is not the product of human subjectivity?

First of all, there is NOTHING – if man is left to
fend for himself – that is not at the mercy of human subjectivity. Without
God, how we perceive things is how we perceive them, and to us, this is
reality. So the possibilities of a person creating a reality based on his own
subjective bias is not only there – but has been done a million times over
with regard to the things of God. Yet none of that does away with the fact that
there IS Truth, and that there IS God, and that He wants to reveal Himself to
us.

Not a Religion

All "religions" are of MAN. By this, I mean
that men have constructed what they think about God, or "gods," and
presented these beliefs to others in the form of teachings, doctrines, and
various practices. But what does any of this have to do with the Truth?

Most people are blind to the fact that they are
blind! We live in a little black box that we think is reality, and have no frame
of reference for the possibility that there could be something outside that box
– outside of our perception. So we take what is in "our box" and we
create for ourselves a world and a zone which provides us with as much comfort
as possible. And then we judge all else by this reality that WE have created.

There are people in this world today, some of them
claim to be Christians, who are so utterly and totally deceived, that what they
produce is nothing short of insanity. They have no knowledge of God, and
consequently, have even lost common sense wisdom. The terrifying aspect of this
is that they think of themselves are progressive, open-minded, and intelligent.
Some of them will even tell you that the reason they believe what they do is
that God Himself, or some form of "god," has come into their
"black box" and enlightened them.

Some of these people today saying, "Think
outside the box." I mean, religiously. This sounds like good advice to a
deceived world. In fact, that’s really what I’M saying right now. But what
THEY mean by that statement is not what I mean by it. They mean, "recreate
your black box to look more like MINE." But my advice is: Open up your box
to the true Light of God in Jesus Christ.

The Truth is, unless God comes in from the outside,
and brings the Light of Christ, you and I are left to ourselves. We WILL have a
black box with a reality created by our own bias, subjectivity, and ignorance.
Not maybe. We will. Only if we open ourselves to Christ, will the Light come,
and we be delivered from our black box. Then, and only then, will we begin to
see HIM.

This is why Jesus was able to say, "You will
know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free." He wasn’t being poetic.
His promise presupposes that you and I are in darkness and bondage to error –
and need to be set free. He is promising deliverance from such through Himself,
for He also said, "I am the Truth."

If Christianity were merely a religion, it could set
no one free. It could just give them another belief system to follow, according
to the mind of man, and within the possibilities of the black box.